Christian Council deplores National Minority
Commission’s stand on Sangh ParivarJohn Dayal, Secretary general, All India Christian Council
issued the following statement:

The All India Christian Council is
intrigued by a statement in a section of the Press, and purportedly issued
by Tirlochan Singh, Vice chairman, National Commission for Minorities, in
which he has again called for a dialogue between the Christian community
and the Sangh Parivar, which has been widely alleged to be behind the
violence against minorities in general and in the last three years,
particularly against Christians. In the process, Tirlochan Singh has also
accused the All India Christian Council of `not being serious about
achieving peace but only in levelling charges.’

We deplore this unwarranted statement against the Council by a man of
Tirlochan Singh’s standing. The NCM has either been misled by vested
interests, or has not been able to understand the difference that the
Council makes between a `bilateral dialogue’ between the Christian
community, a religious identity, and the political entity of the Sangh
Parivar, and a dialogue between religious groups on peaceful coexistence
and mutual respect as behooves civilized people in a secular democracy
based on the rule of law, a secular Constitution and a plural cultural
heritage.

The Sangh Parivar is not a religion or religious group, nor does the great
Hindu community in this country accept it as its sole, or even its main,
representative. This is clear from the fact that its bitterest critics are
not in the minority community but in the majority community who see the
Sangh Parivar as a threat to the civilizational values which Indians hold
so dear.

As everyone knows, the Sangh Parivar’s thesis of `One People One Nation
One Culture’ is an ideology, and several scholars have traced its roots
to the Nazi era. The All India Christian Council does not accept the
argument that there is need to `discuss’ with the Sangh Parivar why its
goons are wrecking havoc on the Christian community. These are crimes
under the Indian Penal Code and the legal process must take care that such
criminals are brought to book. The highest echelons of the Sangh Parivar
have amply made clear their intolerance of the Christians, Muslims,
Buddhists, Sikhs and other minority groups. They have also made it clear
in unambiguous manner in what circumstances and under what conditions will
they allow the minorities to exist in the country. The call by RSS supremo
Kuppahalli Sudershan for an ‘indigenous church’ and for Muslims to
accept their ‘roots’ does not speak of a group whose ears and minds
are open to a dialogue.

The Christian Council is also surprised that the National Commission for
Minorities does not want to understand why it (NCM) was created. It was
not created to ensure the Peace of the Graveyard. Its job is to
investigate persecution of minorities, identify the culprits, review
government policy for biases and lacunae, and ensure that Constitutional
guarantees are enforced and implemented. Going by Tirlochan Singh’s
argument of a dialogue, the National Commissions for women and Scheduled
castes and Tribes would not be looking at root causes but would be
financing dialogues between battered women and murderous husbands,
protagonists of sati or caste and gender chauvinists.

It is easy for traumatized communities to fall in such traps. Only a real
understanding of the ideological moorings of organizations such as the
Sangh Parivar – explained in their own publications and statements –
can lead to a reasoned response. We must NOT allow ourselves to be
panicked into entering or accepting a process of `barter’ or dilution of
Constitutional rights. The Christian Council rejects any dialogue that
seems to `buy’ peace from the Sangh Parivar. Christian conscience will
not accept safety at the cost of the lives and cultures of other
communities, including the Muslims, who are equal if not bigger victims of
the Sangh Parivar.

The Sangh Parivar must publicly renounce its ideology if it wants its
protestations of goodwill to be taken in seriousness.

Meanwhile, we not only welcome, but also hereby offer, to sponsor any
process of dialogue between religious communities and groups to strengthen
democracy, secularism and plural culture as enshrined in the Constitution
of India. The National Commission for Minorities is also invited to join
such a dialogue as an important interlocutor. q